Intolerance [of LGBT individuals in Turkey] often manifests itself as discrimination, abuse, and brutal violence. “It’s not just about equality. We have to fight for our right to live,” says Hassan Metehan Ozkan, a founder of the solidarity group LISTAG, which supports families of LGTB individuals in Istanbul.

Hate crimes against LGBT individuals are higher in Turkey than in any other member of the Council of Europe, advocacy groups say. Gay men and transgender women are at particular risk.[1][2]

The threat of violence [against transgenders] is very real: Indonesia's National Commission for Human Rights receives about 1,000 reports of abuses per year, ranging from murder and rape to the disruption to group activities.[3]

Of the Islamic states that ban lesbian and gay sex, Iran is the most zealously homophobic. Since 1980, when the fundamentalists came to power under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini, over 4,000 lesbians and gay men have been executed, according to estimates by the exiled Iranian homosexual rights group, Homan.

In the early 1980's, for example, 70 people were executed after they attempted to set up a lesbian and gay organization. Nearly 100 homosexuals were sentenced to death in 1992 following a raid on a private party.. . .

Lesbians and gay men living in countries dominated by the New Dark Ages of Islamic fundamentalism cannot afford the liberal luxury of tolerating religious fanaticism. For them, the politically correct arguments about "cultural sensitivity" smack of surrender to the extremists who jeopardize their freedom and even their lives.[4]

Iraqi gays are being targeted and killed in what rights campaigners say is some of the worst violence against the community in recent years.

At least 68 gay and transgendered men have been killed over the last four months, according to the London-based rights advocacy group Iraqi LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender), bringing the total number of killings of Iraqis because of their sexuality to 678 since 2004.[5]

July 2009

At least 82 gay men have been killed in the first 7 Months of 2009.

At least 82 gay men have been killed in Iraq since December, according to Iraqi LGBT. The violence has raised questions about the Iraqi government's ability to protect a diverse range of vulnerable minority groups that also includes Christians and Kurds, especially following the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraqi cities last month.. . .

The killers aren't just executing their gay victims. They are "mutilating their bodies and torturing them," says fundamentalist Sunni cleric Sheik Mohammed al-Ghreri, who has criticized the violence.

Hili says the militias have come up with a particularly cruel way to inflict pain: sealing victims' anuses with glue, then force-feeding them laxatives. Hili says he has spoken to several victims who survived the ordeal.. . .

Unable to trust the authorities — and in some cases shunned by their own families — many Iraqi gays have gone into hiding.[6]

July 2009

Sitting on the floor, wearing traditional Islamic clothes and holding an old notebook, Abu Hamizi, 22, spends at least six hours a day searching internet chatrooms linked to gay websites. He is not looking for new friends, but for victims.

"It is the easiest way to find those people who are destroying Islam and who want to dirty the reputation we took centuries to build up," he said. When he finds them, Hamizi arranges for them to be attacked and sometimes killed.

Hamizi, a computer science graduate, is at the cutting edge of a new wave of violence against gay men in Iraq. Made up of hardline extremists, Hamizi's group and others like it are believed to be responsible for the deaths of more than 130 gay Iraqi men since the beginning of the year [8 months] alone.

The deputy leader of the group, which is based in Baghdad, explained its campaign using a stream of homophobic invective. "Animals deserve more pity than the dirty people who practise such sexual depraved acts," he told the Observer. "We make sure they know why they are being held and give them the chance to ask God's forgiveness before they are killed."[7]

September 2009

42 gays/lesbians killed in less than one month.

The first killings [by Islamic Shia militias] took place on the sixth of February 2012 and continued or rather escalated till the current days [March 1, 2012]. One of the hanged lists in Al-Sadr city included the names and addresses of 33 person, while other lists included other tens of names in other areas. News confirmed that 42 gay men were tortured and killed so far, mostly by concrete blocks, while some by dismembering.[8]

March 2012

The organization says it has been told by Iraqi human rights activists that the renewed targeting [of Iraqis perceived to be gay, lesbian or 'too masculine or feminine'] started in early February this year.. . .

Sources inside Iraq say this new surge of anti-gay violence has seen close to 40 people kidnapped, brutally tortured and murdered.

IGLHCR say the Iraqi authorities have neither responded to this targeted violence nor have they publicly denounced it. It is widely believed that these atrocities are being committed by a group of the Shiite militia.. . .

In 2009 vigilantes murdered hundreds of Iraqi individuals for their perceived sexual orientation.[9]

March 2012

According to the Iraqi LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) organization, based in London, over 720 homosexuals have been killed by extremist militias in the last six years[10].

Abdul Kadir Che Kob describes homosexuals as "shameless people" and homosexuality as a "sin worse than murder." Abdul Kadir is head of education and research at Malaysia’s Islamic Affairs Department, which operates as the morality police with 50 enforcement officers across the country. These officers are empowered to arrest Muslims — including unmarried couples, homosexuals, transvestites and transsexuals — suspected of breaking Islamic laws. Last year, 111 men were arrested in Kuala Lumpur for "attempting to commit homosexual acts."[11]

According to an “offender study” by the University of Amsterdam, there were 201 reports of anti-gay violence in that city in 2007 — and researchers believe for every reported case there are as many as 25 unreported ones. Two thirds of the predators are Muslim youths.[12]

Eleven have been killed in 'hate crimes' against homosexuals in the last six months in Turkey, and so the seventeenth LGBTT (Lesbians, Gay, Bi-Sexuals, Transsexuals and Transgender) Pride Week has kicked off in Istanbul in a climate of sadness and rage.

The event was organised by the LambdaIstanbul association, which in January risked being shut down due to accusations of offense to "public morality".

There have been many assemblies, round table discussions and cultural events with a large number of participants - including the Turkish writer Elif Shakaf - to prepare for Gay Pride, the event which on Sunday will start at Taksim Square and end on the banks of the Bosporus via Beyoglu, long known as the centre of Istanbul night life - which many transsexuals have recently been forced to leave after raids carried out by the forces of order.

Defending onés rights in a demonstration has become necessary, Ismail Alacaoglu, one of the leaders of the LGBT Kaos GL association, told ANSA: "violence targeting us is on the rise because our visibility has increased. We were expecting this and are afraid that it will continue, but the time has come for us to take to the streets, since we no longer want to hide."[14]

June 2009

When Turkey's family affairs minister recently described homosexuality as a curable disease, she was roundly criticized for discrimination and flouting human rights.

But for activists her remarks only underscore what they say is increasing prejudice, discrimination and violence -- even from police -- against homosexuals and transgender people in this Muslim-majority country stuck between its conservative roots and flourishing modernism.

A total of 45 gays and transgender people were killed over three years in "hate murders", said Demet Demir, a transsexual and leading activist from Istanbul-LGBTT, a civic body promoting homosexual rights.

"In February alone, five people were killed. In Antalya (southern Turkey), a transsexual friend was brutally murdered; her throat was slit.

"In Istanbul, another was stabbed to death. Three young men... killed her for money, but she only had 70 liras (46 dollars, 34 euros) and a gold chain," Demir said, adding that three gay men had also been killed in Anatolia.[15]

April 2010

Gay, bisexual and transgender Turks face widespread discrimination and homophobia, often suffering beatings by the police which leave them too frightened to report hate crimes, Amnesty International said in a report.. . .

Local gay rights associations say 16 people were murdered in Turkey last year over their perceived sexual orientation, and violence is routine. Transgender women, who often have no other option but to work as prostitutes, are particularly threatened.

A survey of 104 transgender women by Turkish gay rights group Lambda Istanbul found 89 percent said they had experienced physical violence during police detention.

Amnesty said comments by government officials in Turkey, a majority Muslim country which aspires to join the European Union, had encouraged homophobia.[16]

UK Muslims (in 2006) comprised just 2% of the population, but committed 25% of all anti-Homosexual crimes

The Gay Police Association (GPA) has been reprimanded for an ad which implied Christians were responsible for a huge rise in violent attacks on homosexuals.

The advert, placed in The Independent newspaper under the banner “in the name of the father” showed a Bible and a pool of blood.

It was a one-off, used to back up the GPA’s claim that the association had recorded a 74 percent increase in homophobic incidents, where the sole or primary motivating factor was the religious belief of the perpetrator.

The association said the accompanying text made clear Christians were not the only group accused, in fact a quarter of the alleged incidents were provoked by Muslims, it said.[17]

October 2006

The East End’s gay community has declared ‘enough is enough’ after a young man was left fighting for his life following a brutal homophobic stabbing by a gang of youths.. . .

With 47 homophobic attacks in Tower Hamlets over the last 12 months, one man called the Advertiser to say: “It’s time we stood up for ourselves. I’m fed up with people almost excusing this kind of violence.”. . .

“It has just got worse and worse around here—it’s left people frightened to go out. The problem is with a minority of Bengali youth: but that minority is significant.[18]

September 2008

Around 5,000 children at Islamic weekend schools are being taught homophobic and anti-semitic views, it has been claimed.

According to a BBC Panorama investigation to be screened tonight, the Sharia law classes use textbooks which tell children that the penalty for gay sex is execution, that “Zionists” are plotting to take over the world for the Jews and the correct way to cut off the hands and feet of convicted thieves.. . .

Gay sex is punished by execution, the schools allegedly teach. However, children are told that clerics are said to differ in whether the guilty person should be stoned, thrown off a cliff or burnt.[19]

Militants from the Al-Qaida linked Ansar Al Sharia islamist group have shot dead a 20-year-old they suspected of being gay in the Yemeni province of Lahj... Officials told the Washinton Post there had been 33 other gay men killed by the militant group.. . .
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pilay condemned the country as recently as December 2011 and called on it to end the death penalty for homosexuality.[20]

Muslims around the world also share similar views about the immorality of some behaviors. For example, across the six regions surveyed, median percentages of roughly eight-in-ten or more consistently say prostitution, homosexuality and suicide are morally wrong.[22]

April 2013

The “Global Divide on Homosexuality” study surveyed 37, 653 people in 39 countries... People in predominately Muslim countries such as Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia and Pakistan along with Nigeria, Senegal and other African nations overwhelming said gay men and lesbians should be rejected from society at large, the Pew Research Center found.[23]

June 2013

Pew survey finds seven of the ten countries that are least tolerant of homosexuality are Muslim majorities.

The global survey found that “there is broad acceptance of homosexuality in North America, the European Union, and much of Latin America. However, rejection of homosexuality is equally widespread in predominantly Muslim nations and in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in parts of Asia and in Russia.”

[Levels of native European out-group hostility] are dwarfed by the levels of out-group hostility among European Muslims. Almost 60 per cent reject homosexuals as friends and 45 per cent think that Jews cannot be trusted.[25]

The “Global Divide on Homosexuality” study surveyed 37, 653 people in 39 countries. It found Indonesians were overwhelming opposed to homosexuality, with 93 percent saying that gay people should not be accepted.

While Muslim countries were found to be overwhelmingly opposed to homosexuality, Indonesia was more resistant to same-sex relationships than both Malaysia and Pakistan — two countries that prohibit same-sex practices by law.

The survey conducted 1,000 face-to-face interviews with Indonesian adults, giving a margin for error of 4 percent, broadly in line with both surveys for Malaysia and Pakistan.

In addition, attitudes do not appear to be changing in the archipelago. Only 3 percent of Indonesians claimed to be supportive of gay rights in the last Pew survey in 2007.. . .

Younger generations were also “consistently more likely than older ones to say homosexuality should be accepted by society” even in countries that overall are more supportive of gays, Pew said.

For example, 54 percent of all Japanese polled offered support. But 83 percent of those younger than 30 said they accepted gays compared to about 40 percent of those 50 and older. In the United States, 70 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds supported gays compared with 52 percent of those ages 50 and older. In Indonesia, the findings were less conclusive, with 4 percent of those under 30 supportive of gays, which was the case for only 2 percent of respondents aged 30-49.[23]

Prejudice is widespread: 84 percent of Turkish people said gays or lesbians were among the groups they would least like living in their area, according to 2011 research conducted as part of the World Values Survey.[1]

Gallup conducted telephone and face-to-face interviews with 500 Muslims in the UK, France and Germany.

“The most dramatic contrast was found in attitudes towards homosexuality,” the study said. “None of the 500 British Muslims interviewed believed that homosexual acts were morally acceptable.”[26][27]

May 2009

61 percent not only think it is morally wrong, but also think that it should be illegal (unlike other religious groups, it is the younger generation of UK Muslims that hold the more fundamentalist views).

In 2007, the think tank Policy Exchange published a detailed poll of Muslim opinion that covered most issues relevant to the position of the community in modern Britain.. . .

there are majorities [in Muslim opinions] that clash with British cultural values: 51 per cent agree that a Muslim woman may not marry a non‐Muslim, 61 per cent think homo‐sexuality should be made illegal.[28]

According to a Zogby International poll of American Muslims taken in November and December of last year, a whopping 71 percent oppose "allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally." And 68 percent support the death penalty.[29]

November 2001

Not a single mosque in America accepts homosexuals

Alam is the founder of Al-Fatiha, an organization that promotes the rights of LGBT Muslims. He founded the group in 1998 after joining Muslim list-serves across the country and writing members e-mails asking if anyone was gay and wanted to join a list-serv to talk. Within minutes, hundreds of people joined. But it took a year for anyone to write back to Alam's post.

"That shows how much silence and fear there is regarding homosexuality in the Muslim community," Alam said.

Alam explained the current status of LGBT Muslims and their stance in the Muslim community, saying how there isn't a single mosque in the United States that openly accepts gay members.

Arabic is the 2nd most common language that is used to search [online] for “gay sex.” It’s the number one language for search involving “sexy.”... Arabic is the 2nd most common language that is used to search for “gay man.” The countries that most search for this is currently Malaysia (#1) and Indonesia (#2). For “gay girl,”Arabic is also the 2nd most common language.[31]

In Bangladesh, people belonging to the LGBT community (Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) range between 1.6 and 4.8 million. They are not recognized and receive no form of social, religious or legal support and are often victims of persecution.[32]

In Iran, search terms revealed a burgeoning appetite for gay pornography, despite protests by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that there were "no gays" in the fundamentalist Islamic state ruled over by strict shariah law.

Yet the presence of "daddy love" at No 4 in the [xxx] search chart belies the president's bombastic denial.

"Hotel businessman (gay)", "Iranian (gay)" and "shower (gay)" in the top 10 hint that Iran has more homosexuals in it than the president thinks.[33]

In Libya the most searched XXX term was "gay silver daddies" despite homosexuality being outlawed and a strong Islamist presence there. In total, 30 percent of the most popular sex search terms were gay-related in the north African country.[33]

Angela M. Kuga Thas, who works with transgendered people, said activists estimate there are some 50,000 transsexuals in Malaysia, but few dare to come forward.
Transsexuals and other transgendered people face daily discrimination and harassment in Malaysia, and many of them are forced to earn their living as sex workers because they cannot get any other job.[34]

Among the least tolerant nations surveyed was Pakistan, where only 2 percent of those surveyed said society should accept homosexuality.. . .

As of this writing, Pakistan is by volume the world leader for Google searches of the terms "shemale sex," "teen anal sex," and "man fucking man," according to Google Trends.. . .

in Pakistan, what's even more peculiar is that the highest number of hits for some of these terms, including "shemale sex," come not from Pakistan's cosmopolitan centers, but from Peshawar, a bastion of conservative Islam, lately known in the West as a counterterrorism frontline.[35]

This study [from the Office of Societal Supervision] reported that 46% of students in the city of Riyadh suffer from homosexuality. Twenty-five percent of students in Jeddah suffer from homosexuality. We must be aware of this in order to combat these numbers quickly. The society has become fragmented. When we have a percentage of students—children or teenagers—who are gay, this is a catastrophe, a true catastrophe.[36]

↑Note that, according to Pew, unlike adherents of Christianity who are spread out among developed and undeveloped countries, only a tiny 3% of the world's Muslims live in "more-developed regions, such as Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan". Meaning, even though this survey does not cover Muslims in America or the western part of Europe, overall it remains a very accurate representation of what the worldwide Muslim population believes (give or take 3% at the most). Indeed, Pew refer to it as a "worldwide survey" of Muslim attitudes. Ref: "The Future of the Global Muslim Population", The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, January 27, 2011 (archived), http://www.pewforum.org/The-Future-of-the-Global-Muslim-Population.aspx.